Quiche Lorraine

With its few, simple ingredients and easy-as-pie preparation, quiche Lorraine livens up any meal, giving it a French twist without all the culinary expertise normally associated with la cuisine française.

I have come across several recipes that substitute some of the cream with milk...and tasted some of these results...yukkkkk.....tasted of scrambled eggs! A real quiche uses cream - or even better crème fraîche.

Never use a pre made crust - always make your own.

Also, (and I did not know this) shredded cheese is an absolute no no in the authentic Quiche Lorraine.

Oops, i always used cheese...so today I will be trying out an authentic recipe from Amelie.

Vive la France!!!

Shortcrust pastry:

To make the pastry:

Rub 1 1/2 cups of plain flour,

a pinch of salt and

31/2 oz of butter into 'breadcrumb' type consistency. (you can also use half vegetable shortening for a light pastry)

Add a very small amount of milk, and knead that in (The milk can be replaced by a beaten egg if preferred).

Add a tiny bit more milk if necessary but always a very small amount at a time. If you add too much it will suddenly go sticky and unworkable (if this happens add a little more flour).
Method
Leave the ball of pastry in the fridge for an hour, then get it out and leave it another half an hour to reach room temperature.
You can now roll out the pastry and put in your flan tin. Prick the base of the pastry all over.

easy no???!!!

Now for the filling:

Lardons are traditionally used but you can use cubed bacon, grilled and drained instead

Ingredients:

7 oz thick smoked bacon cut into cubes

4 eggs (separated)

10 oz cream, whipped

salt and pepper.

Method:

Beat the egg yolks and the cream.

Add the bacon cubes

season to taste

Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour the filling into the pasty. I prefer to blind bake the pastry for about 15 mins, to be sure it will be nice and crisp.

Bake at 430F for 20-30 mins until done.

You can always make your own variation, using cheese, scallions, herbs, onions etc. etc. I was actually amazed at how light and tasty the original was!

Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise can be tricky to make but with a bit of patience, I have found it is actually possible to make a really tasty example. Also, not using the yolks together made is less likely for the mayonnaise to separate. Not sure why!

Ingredients:

2 FRESH eggs - they will not be cooked so make sure they are at least date stamped.

1 to 1 1/2 cups of oil. Traditionally olive oil is used but peanut oil would also work if you don't like the taste of olive oil

1 to 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Pinch of salt

Method:

You only need the egg yolks so separate them from the whites.

The yolks will be used one by one.

If you are using a food processor, put one yolk in there - if using an electric beater put in a bowl.

I tried both the beater and the processor and it boils down to a personal preference.

Add a pinch of salt.

Start beating, processing, and add about 3/4 of the oil - in a thin drizzle - to the mixture.

This has to be done REALLY slowly - almost drop by drop.

Do not be tempted to hurry - you will ruin the mixture!

Next, in another bowl, beat the remaining egg yolk then add the oil-egg mixture to this very slowly again - beating in between.

Then, in a thin drizzle, add the remaining oil, beating constantly

When all the oil is added, add the lemon juice.

Start with 1 tablespoon full, beat in, then taste. Add more if you want it a bit more lemony. The lemon juice will lighten the color of the mayo. Adjust the salt too, if needed.

You will end up with approximately 2 cups of mayonnaise.

This is pure mayonnaise, so use it up within a couple of days. Store it well covered in the refrigerator.